Art

So here I sit in Art Class. Probably not the best place to be blogging, but hey! I can multi-task. This class is nothing like what I expected. I thought we might learn how to draw faces or animals, or maybe make clay pots or something. I've never had an art class, so I certainly wasn't expecting this. We each have our own artist that we're studying (mine is Thomas Kinkade) and then we have to teach the class about that artist and his art. And we do formal analysis' on the art. I didn't know that was possible. Sure I knew you could look deep into a picture to find a deeper meaning, but this is.....well.... crazy. It's like there's a hidden meaning in every little line that the artist puts on the canvas. It all represents something. I haven't yet decided whether I think we're digging too deep or not. But I'm leaning more to the too deep side. I mean, we're comparing each element in a painting to the notes of a song. It's pretty intense.

Ya know, I actually might be pretty narrow minded when it comes to art. I don't mind analyzing these cool paintings, but when it comes to abstract art...... no. A tiny red dot does not represent an ancient war of vikings. I know that's a little extreme, but that's what it feels like to me. It just makes no sense and I don't really see it as art. *gasp of horror* I will actually doodle abstract art in marker when I'm bored sometimes, making lots of lines like a spider web then color in some of the shapes with different colors. Sometimes it looks really cool, but I don't see it as art. It's just random doodlings of boredom. Sometimes I'll do symbols, too. But they actually mean something (I made a new alphabet out of symbols for my book). The thing is, I still don't view it as art. It's just doodlings that I can sometimes connect into my writing. Nothing special that will sell for millions, yet it's just the same as those famous red dot paintings.

Maybe I'm being too critical. Like I said, I'm kind of narrow minded in art. Some abstract art I do find interesting, but I see no "deeper meaning" in it other than what the artist might have been feeling when he made it (which is what we analyze, but to the extreme. We try to make every little speck represent some kind of emotion). And I still wouldn't buy a dot or scribbles for thousands of dollars when I could just as easily have my nephew do it and have that actually mean something to me.

That was probably a little harsh, so I'll give the artists some credit to make up for it. Art actually does take a lot of strategy and talent. I never would have thought about adding implied lines or complementary colors. It takes a lot of thought, patience, and knowledge. Kudos for the artists (even if I don't like them).